The latest news from around the world

The bodies of flight MH17 victims have begun a long journey back to the Dutch city where they boarded the downed airliner almost five days ago amid continued diplomatic tensions over the 298 deaths.

A UK expert is among international representatives waiting to start the process of identifying the remains when they arrive in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv before being flown on to Amsterdam.

Pro-Russian separatists yesterday agreed to allow 282 bodies recovered from the crash site to be sent there by train before being flown to Amsterdam on a Dutch C130 Hercules after days of global condemnation of their handling of the crash site.

Better future for girls sought

Parents who fail to prevent their daughters being subjected to female genital mutilation will face prosecution under new legislation to be unveiled by the Government at a summit in London.

A £1.4 million FGM Prevention Programme for survivors and those at risk of the practice are among a raft of plans to be announced by Prime Minister David Cameron at the Girl Summit, which is being co-hosted by the Government and Unicef.

The measures to combat FGM and forced marriage in the UK and abroad come as Unicef warns advances made in tackling them in the developing world could be reversed if the pace of action is not increased.

Major concerns over taser use

"Major concerns" remain over police using Tasers at point-blank range in what is "purely a means of pain compliance", a watchdog has said.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) found that the highly controversial practice is still being used, despite the tactic being largely removed from officer training.

In 2013 Tasers were used 287 times in so-called "drive-stun" mode, when the weapon without a cartridge is held directly against the body, out of a total of 1,733 occasions where the weapons were fired.

Royal gratitude for George goodwill

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have used their son's first birthday to issue a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has wished their family well during the past year.

As two touching photographs of William, Kate and Prince George were released to officially mark the toddler's anniversary, the Cambridges paid their own tribute to the public support they have received.

In a short message, the Duke and Duchess said: "We would like to take this opportunity on George's first birthday to thank everyone over the last year, wherever we have met them, both at home and overseas, for their warm and generous good wishes to George and our family."

Agenda to increase role of Islam

A Government-ordered inquiry into the Trojan Horse allegations is expected to say that there was a "sustained and co-ordinated agenda" to impose hardline Muslim views in some Birmingham schools when it reports back today.

The investigation, led by former anti-terror chief Peter Clarke, was commissioned by former education secretary Michael Gove in April to investigate the alleged plot by a group of hardline Muslims to take over schools in the city.

According to the Guardian newspaper, which obtained a leaked draft of the report, Mr Clarke, who served as head of the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism unit, concludes there was a "sustained, co-ordinated agenda to impose segregationist attitudes and practices of a hardline, politicised strain of Sunni Islam".

Student loans at tipping point

The student loans system is at "tipping point" due to Government miscalculations and problems with collecting repayments, a cross-party group of MPs has warned.

In a critical new report, the Commons Business Select Committee said the current system is under threat, and an urgent review is needed to address the issue.

Under major reforms of higher education funding, which saw tuition fees at English universities trebled to a maximum of £9,000 in 2012, students can now get a loan from the Government to cover their fees, with the money paid back once they have graduated and are earning at least £21,000 a year. The debt is written off after 30 years.

Shortage of secure unit places

A family court judge has warned of a "terrible national shortage" of places in secure units for dangerous youngsters.

Judge Sarah Singleton said there was a "gross shortage of resource" which created a "lack of protection for the public".

The judge made her comments in a written analysis of a case, involving a 15-year-old boy who had a "terrifying" history of violence, following a private family court hearing in Lancaster.

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The Editor

Mark Thoma

Liverpool-born Mark joined the Daily Post in January 2014 after seven years as editor of its Merseyside sister title the Liverpool Post. He started out as a weekly news reporter on Wirral Newspapers, and spent seven years at the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo. He was The Press Association's regional correspondent for North Wales, Merseyside and Cheshire from 1983 to 1997, before returning to the ECHO as deputy news editor. He has won a number of journalism awards, including the UK Press Gazzette Regional Reporter of the Year award, and in 1993 wrote a book on the James Bulger murder.